Joe Burnich

In an industry where the majority of owners and workers are men it’s refreshing to see some women carpet cleaners that understand the business and who is persistent in succeeding.   Internet marketing is a daunting task but eventually we all have to take that step and dive into it.

Once you bring together advertising, newsletters, internet marketing (SEO), connecting with others, and more.  The fact is that once you bring everything together and build helpful outlets then you will hear your phone ringing more and more.  Basic marketing tells us the more that people see you and your logo the more likely someone will call.

Proteck Carpet Cleaning is working on bringing all this together.  It’s a changing world and women are making a difference in the carpet cleaning world, you can check out an article on Clean Fax to read an article from a women owner in the carpet cleaning world.  It’s not easy and it’s easy to be ignored in the business and not taken seriously.  I commend Proteck Carpet Cleaning for bringing it together and making the business work.  In my opinion, most cleaners forget that the majority of our clients are women and most companies forget to market to them.  How many phone calls do you get a week from men?   Not very many.  So, let’s not forget that.  Congrats to Proteck Carpet Cleaning!

Cleaner’s Spotlight: PacePro Carpet Cleaners & Restoration

There are several different reasons why Pace Pro in Champaign, IL should be chosen has the Cleaner Of The Week. They’re doing everything right, their website is new and innovative, the group is excited and you can feel their passion it’s contagious! So, here is 8 Reason Why They Are Mastering The Market!

1) They have a true devotion of getting the job done right! The crew put together an 8 step cleaning process that nails it! The process ensures everything gets done correctly and leaves the customer happy!
2) 80% of their customers are returning customers! Need I say more? They must be doing something right?
3) Their technicians are hard working, reliable, clean, and are committed to customer service. Okay, so how many of you have techs that come and go? You always seem to be hiring. Something seems to be lacking? If we pay our techs well enough, hire the best, then people will be more than happy to let them into their homes and they’ll be happy that the jobs done right. This I believe is a HUGE part of why Pace Pro has an 80% return rate. People want to know their cleaners and they like a happy recognizable clean face!
4) They’re bringing it all together! This company has a great website, uses social media, and is ranking on the search engines. They know you need to spend money to make money. Let’s face it just by looking at their website you can tell they’re clean, professional, and here to stay!
5) Equipment! It’s so important folks, they spent money on good equipment to make sure the job gets done right. It’s important.
6) They’ve trained their technicians. It’s a comfort to know that the guys you send to homes are knowledgeable and certified by the Institute of Inspection. They want to show people they not only train their employees but they continue to train them even afterwards.
7) Website has lots of video and pictures of their technicians. This is important to get that phone to ring. If they already feel like they know you from the website then they’ll be more likely to call.
8) The 1 Year Warranty, this is huge! This Fresh and Clean Warranty guarantees up to 6 return visits where they will refresh/clean spots for $25. This is a comfort to anyone using Pace Pro. Great idea and it sets them a part from everyone else!

Congrats Pace Pro for leading the industry in Champaign IL !

I recently had a client who had read an article about website conversions and wanted an opinion. It had all the standard, Call-To-Action, Easy Contact, Professional, Easy To Use, etc. All that is good and well, but what really makes someone pick up the phone and call? Since most of us are targeting women I thought that I would share an email response that my assistant Mariane sent to him.

Pay attention guys! This is verbatim word-for-word from a female.

“I’m going to give you my opinion as a woman.
My main thing when I hire a carpet cleaner or anyone that is going to come into my home is that I can trust them.  This is what Joe preaches…is the aspect of the family guy. For me I’ve seen your Facebook and your pictures of you and your beautiful kids but I honestly think if you’d do a video like Joe’s  (http://wowmissoula.com/)  with your kids in it – put it on your homepage. Something fun even if it’s just them trying to help you clean carpets and it has nothing to do with how well you cleaned carpets that day I’d call you.  I’d see that you are a sweet father and I’d instantly want to call you for two reasons: 1) I can trust you because you’re a loving dad. 2) I will feel like I’m giving my money to an honest family man that needs to support his kids.

Let’s face it that’s the way women think.  And that’s the majority of people looking at your website.”

-Mariane Maynard

1) Fernando actually is so confident in his equipment that he promises his customers that he will get their carpets cleaner than anyone else.

2) Customers are CE Floor Care’s Number Priority!  Which we love to hear!  Lots of folks forget about customer service and it’s extremely important.

3) CE Floor Care uses the top of the line equipment to get the job done right!  They have a truck mounted steam cleaning system.  Their system is one of the best in the market and I know first hand it gets the job done very effectively.

4) Fernando and his technicians do the job right.

“Great service!! Fernando goes the extra mile when it comes down to customer service. We have been using he’s carpet services for years now. Reliable, Courteous,  and affordable!!”

5) Fernando is great at training his technicians, staying on top of all new cleaning techniques, and ensuring that homeowners will receive the best possible cleaning.  We love business owners who are staying on top of the trade and constantly learning.

Congrats to Fernando and CE Floor Care!

Deland Moghimi, owner of Persian River Rug Cleaning is our Cleaner of the Month!

This Rug Cleaning Company serving Orlando Florida and Surrounding Areas is a second generation rug cleaner.  Deland’s father cleaned rugs in Iran and it was not in the conventional method.  They just put detergent and rinses away to get rugs cleaned.  Deland’s company does a lot more than that!

Deland has a certain passion for his work.  He believes rugs and cleaning them is an art form.  Imagine if more business owners thought like this?  How would this change your mental abilities in the office?  Deland is a remarkably positive, energetic, and hard working individual.  Deland proclaims that no one in the industry removes odor as well as he can.  This is a company that you want handling any expensive rugs that have been in the family for years.  Why trust any old rug cleaner that doesn’t have the passion nor the love that this man has?

Deland and his family love being in the rug cleaning business, “What a great life!”  This is why Deland is out spotlight cleaner because of his passion and love for doing the job right.  Congrats Deland!

No matter your location in this country Old Man winter has evolved into a beast! Missoula, Montana has been hit with around 17 inches of snow over this past weekend and more heading our way through out the week. Our balmy 18 degrees today has been refreshing compared to the prior weeks temperature that was as low as -27 one morning and no Joe did not cancel work unfortunately.

Winter brings us a fresh beginning, a calm silence, and once you suffer a week of temperatures in the negatives followed by a weekend of foot after foot of snow one can’t help but to want it to go away. We miss our sunny days. We do enjoy playing in the snow up here in Montana whether it’s snow shoeing or skiing, however when the temperatures high for the day is -6 there isn’t anything you want to do other than stay inside! We hope you all have kept warm and you’ve kept an optimistic attitude.

It’s been difficult on the carpet cleaning side of things for us as well. We are receiving calls but when the temperature of the day is -12 or so it makes it utterly miserable cleaning carpets. On the SEO end of things Joe just went to Las Vegas to speak at a Convention on Marketing. We’ve been hammering down on building links to everyone’s Facebook and Yelp pages as well as some others. Some we’ve seen rank rather well and some pages seem to be battling the voracious Google Battle. A lot of pages have been ping ponging back and forth from page two to page four to page seven and then back to page two as if Google has no clue what he or she wants to do with it. But we shall never give up and we are still being persistent and hoping that Google will eventually surrender his or her battle and rank the page on page one.

We’ve been seeing a favorable rise in ranking to a lot of the sites and we’ve been seeing some sites sit comfortably at a position in ranking. Those that have been stuck on the bottom of page one we are beginning a new strategy this month. One site we experimented with was sitting for months on the bottom of page one and after a few special link building tactics it is now number three on page one! Don’t worry I check everyone’s site every Monday and I am very observant on what is happening. If I think you’re site needs special TLC I will inform Joe immediately so he can develop a plan. Some sites I see a nice and steady climb to the top and that’s what we want because you’ll be more likely to stay there!

Stay Warm and We’ll Keep Battling This Ferocious Fight With Google!
– Mariane Maynard –

This weeks spotlight cleaner is Scott’s Carpet Cleaning for one simple reason: Personality & Customer Service Excellence. Many cleaners in this industry miss on ingredient in the company stirring pot and that is delivering superior customer service to gain customer repeats. Most companies rely solely on Google and other search engines and don’t think of how much help your business can receive from referrals and customers coming back to the one company that they trust.

In todays World we have become more dependent and reliant on phones, internet, television, and anything else electronic and mobile. We are slowly missing the one on one contact with others, the pleasure in having a good conversation, and the ability in networking. Scott’s Carpet Cleaning has put an emphasis in teaching customer services techniques, being personal with customers, and attempting to gain customer repeats because they become the family cleaner. Small business owners should focus on this for the simple fact that this is what keeps them in business. Being a reliable and friendly service that customers love calling and desire to spend their money with them instead of other competitors.

Scott’s Carpet Cleaning trains their technicians and receptionists to being on top of their game to meet ever customer expectation and inquiry in a professional manner. This company believes if you treat a customer like family it will create word of mouth and generate returning customers year to year. This is why Scott’s Carpet Cleaning is highlighted this week. Companies that focus on making their customers happy will always do well, make money, and feel good about themselves at the end of the day.

Scott’s Carpet Cleaning competes in Columbus, Ohio and in a market like this where lots of folks are needing cleaners and lots of other folks are starting up business you need something to set you apart from the competition. This is clearly a perfect ingredient to stand out from all others. So, like I always say answer your phones, treat customers like Gold, and be respect to the industry and you’ll succeed in this business.

OxyDry is one of the few companies around that have gone above and beyond in understand the mold department. They understand psychrometrics, they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, they’re experts in the IICRC Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation, they’re highly rated on Angie’s list, and all of their technicians are certified in helping customers with mold and water damage problems.

Psychrometrics is the study of gas and vapor mixtures. This is something OxyDry has become very knowledgable in. This company has become an advisor in their area and insurance companies and home owners have a solid trust in the work OxyDry does. They’ve gone above and beyond in training their technicians and these technicians will also walk you through step by step on the mold remediation process to help in ensuring that the customer that the job is being done right. OxyDry Restoration Specialist are taught to not only get your home back to dry and healthier conditions but to also help in being your friend to lean on during the process. They understand that this is an unexpected event that happens in your life and it stresses a person out. They also know one of the best ways to gain word of mouth, a solid reputation, and a referral base is to give outstanding customer service. When you become a solid person to lean on during these events in peoples lives they don’t forget it. OxyDry is correct in doing this. I’ve called back so lots of Emergency Water Damage specialist that were interested in web design and they didn’t answer their phones. This to me is one of the major mistakes companies make. If you do not answer your phone in this industry you will lose the job.

OxyDry is our spotlight cleaner for the week because they go above and beyond in proving to not only have a solid knowledge in mold and water damage but to also have a superior customer service foundation that exceeds expectations. OxyDry is a superior example of what a Water Damage company should aspire to be.

Mobile websites are designed for the small screen and have all of the information at someone’s finger tips and looks better to the average eye because it’s designed to be mobile friendly. So, now you have the customers not only seeing your site but also are holding the machine they can then call you with to schedule an appointment. Fewer steps make the customer happy and they’re more likely to call as soon as they hop onto your site.

Lots of cleaners in the world say no one uses computers to find you any longer they search on their smart phone when they’re at a brewery or a coffee shop talking with friends and suddenly remember they need their carpets cleaned so they look it up at the spot and then arrange to get the job done.

Right now in the industry you want to find a decent web designer that can deliver a great page for your potential clients. This is new to the world of carpet cleaning so not all web designers are doing it yet. It costs around $300 for a decent mobile site. You want to deliver something the viewer loves and needs and you want this to appear in just a few seconds.

Also new inventions people are creating that are becoming very popular are the dynamic QR code which seems odd but people with smart phones can scan it much like a bar code and then they can see a website or special offers. QR code scans have been increasing rapidly since 2011 when they appeared.

Another popular app that people should be getting into is the ACE Text Reminder. This app helps remind your customer that you’re coming to clean their carpets. Technology is changing everyone’s world and like anything else the carpet cleaning industry needs to take notice and be on top of the world of the web, apps for phones, and other new technology to serve your customers better with and to help in advertising yourself. Society is turning to phones for their Internet access and they love text messages to remind them of any upcoming appointments

Like any business owner it’s important to keep up with new inventions, new products, and new creative ideas that enter the business world. This will help you stay on top of a changing industry and will keep the calls coming in. One of our first clients to do mobile with us was US Clean. They are an innovative company that has stayed on top of new technologies and new ways of doing things. We’d like to salute US Clean this week for being successful at keeping up with the “changing times” in the industry.  They’ve had a great response from people loving the text reminders and finding them easily either on their mobile site or searching on Google.

Big West Marketing hopes you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and you’re of course looking forward to Christmas I’m sure.  Up here in the far north we’re prepping for snow since Montana is under an advisory for severe winter weather beginning today.  It was a cold one this morning and temperatures are apparently dropping off into the negative digits beginning Thursday.  However, this gives us more of an excuse to sit in front of the computer and get your site ranked on those search engines.

In the month of November we worked a lot on link building and prepping those social media sites more and more.  With new Google updates on a regular basis we know that those social signals are certainly going to come into effect soon.  We are focusing more and more on Yelp and Facebook because we’ve been noticing on occasion that those sites some times rank.  We have one client that’s on the first page and we ranked his business Facebook, Yelp, and website pages all on that first page of Google.  Which is great because if a potential customer see’s you three times on the first page they’re most certainly going to check out your site and give you a call.

We all know this tends to be the slow season but this all depends on location as well.  Montana is about to get dumped on with snow so the last thing on any body’s mind is to get their carpets cleaned.  Now is the time to be getting your name and logo seen and heard more and more so it sticks in their minds and when it comes time to get carpets cleaned you’ll be that company they call.  Stay warm and cozy this winter because it’s looking to be a cold one here in Missoula…that’s for sure!  Miss Daisy May won’t leave that fire place.

 

Written By Mariane Maynard